Breakfast was delivered to the room by He Nuan, and He Sheng came along. "Miss, Seventh Master, I just checked the stables. The carriage is fine, but our horses have been swapped."
Zhan Feiyu, who had picked up her chopsticks, was surprised. She finally understood why the commotion last night had happened. "They'll go to any lengths to pocket some silver."
He Sheng's inspection of the stables was to prevent them from tampering with the carriage in retaliation. But who knew these people were after the horses?
"They have some discerning taste. Our three horses are fine steeds from the army." Chong Guang took a bite of a braised pork bun. The rich savory flavor made his eyes light up. "Fatty girl, don't worry about the horses. Eat quickly, these buns are authentic."
"Eat first," Yin Wuyan's deep phoenix eyes held a doting expression. Seeing Zhan Feiyu eating her breakfast obediently, he then said to He Sheng, "Go and keep an eye on them. Don't let them sell the horses."
"Yes," He Sheng replied. Those three fine steeds must not be ruined by a few scoundrels. These were military horses. The fact that they dared to lay hands on them was practically seeking their own demise.
After Zhan Feiyu and Yin Wuyan set off for Kou Family Village, two ruffians who were staking out the inn exchanged glances. "You stay here and keep watching. I'll go tell the Third Young Master."
"Alright, bring me two big meat buns when you come back," the ruffian who stayed behind instructed, then continued to huddle in the corner, watching the inn's main entrance.
In the second-floor room, Chong Guang, bored, stood by the window and speechlessly watched the young hooligan rush away. "A Nuan, do you think these people have paste in their heads? If it weren't for Seventh Master showing mercy earlier, Zhao San wouldn't even be alive. They still dare to send two petty hooligans to keep watch."
He Nuan was making clothes. Zhan Feiyu practiced calligraphy daily, so besides a few sets of dresses for going out, the other clothes she made were narrow-sleeved styles, which were more convenient for writing.
"Wealth moves people's hearts. They've been accustomed to being overbearing in Huaixian and have forgotten that the Great Qing Dynasty still has laws." Snipping off a thread with scissors, He Nuan's seemingly gentle face also held mockery and coldness. Compared to her young lady's diligent study to find a way out, Zhao San and others like him relied on their status to make money, which was naturally easier and more convenient.
...
Zhao San had taken medicine in the morning, and his throat was finally less swollen and painful. He was now discussing with Captain Cao how to handle the three fine horses. "The three horses are now kept at my residence. Those foreigners won't be able to find them even if they turn Huaixian upside down."
Zhao San was engaged. County Magistrate Zhao contributed half the silver for this residence, and the seller was a merchant. It was almost a half-gift, half-sale, costing only a hundred taels of silver. Moreover, the furniture in the house was all-inclusive, just missing the oil, salt, soy sauce, and vinegar in the kitchen.
Zhao San usually lived in the residence behind the county yamen, which represented his status. However, every time he wanted to engage in intimate activities, Zhao San would return to his residence. Keeping the three horses there was indeed safe.
"Third Young Master, why don't we sell them after they leave Huaixian?" Captain Cao said in a deep voice. "I'll go to the prefectural city then, and I'm sure I can get a good price."
Zhao San nodded. "What does County Lieutenant Hou say? What's the estimated price for these horses?"
Zhao San and Captain Cao were a dandy and a rough man respectively. They only knew that the three horses were good horses, but they didn't know how good they were, nor their prices.
Zhao San disliked the taciturn and reclusive County Lieutenant Hou, but even with all of them combined, they were no match for County Lieutenant Hou. Fortunately, County Lieutenant Hou didn't interfere with their affairs much. As long as Captain Cao offered him some silver, County Lieutenant Hou would turn a blind eye.
Captain Cao spoke of County Lieutenant Hou, his superior, with reverence. "County Lieutenant Hou said at least five hundred taels. They are one-in-a-hundred fine steeds. If one encounters a horse expert, the price could be even higher."
Huaixian was not lacking in wealthy people, but they would absolutely not be willing to spend six or seven hundred taels to buy a horse. However, the prefectural city was different. The noble sons of the prefectural city were all prodigal spenders. Moreover, the prefectural city had a dock and many wealthy merchants frequented it. If these horses were sent there, they might be snapped up.
"One deal is worth several years," Zhao San's excited voice trembled. He had known the three horses were valuable before, but County Lieutenant Hou hadn't seen the horses and wasn't sure of the specific price.
Now, after calculating, Zhao San, County Lieutenant Hou, and County Assistant Wang would take the lion's share, with each person getting at least five hundred taels. Captain Cao and the other constables and yamen runners would get at least twenty taels each.
Zhao San swallowed his saliva, forgetting the pain in his throat. He grabbed Captain Cao's arm and said urgently, "They also brought a cartload of luggage!"
Captain Cao, as sturdy and imposing as a bear, was stunned. The silver he received was not as much as Zhao San and County Assistant Wang, but it was several times more than that of ordinary constables. Captain Cao had also estimated in his mind that the three horses could sell for two thousand taels, and he might get two hundred taels.
Thinking of Zhan Feiyu's cartload of luggage, the noble young ladies from the prefectural city were indeed different from the wealthy young ladies in Huaixian. They didn't adorn their heads with jewelry, but the horses pulling the cart were worth five to six hundred taels of silver. It was likely that the luggage they carried contained many valuable items.
As a captain, Captain Cao knew very well that although these gold hairpins were dazzling, they were really no match for a jade pendant. Two years ago, a noble from Zhongzhou Prefecture returned to his hometown in Huaixian to visit relatives. He lost a jade pendant at the time, and the reward offered was a full hundred taels!
Later, Captain Cao asked the owner of a jewelry shop and learned that it was a mutton-fat jade pendant, worth over a thousand taels of silver. The key was that even with money, one couldn't buy good quality mutton-fat jade.
"Those two guards are skilled practitioners," Captain Cao touched the scar on his neck. Although it was only a superficial cut, he knew Chong Guang's martial arts skills. Ten of him wouldn't be a match for Chong Guang.
Zhao San's eyes were now red with greed. He sneered, "There are six of them in total, only two guards, a young girl, and a maid. We have one to two hundred people. One spit each could drown them!"
Huaixian, like Shangsi County, was a medium-sized county. There were over twenty constables, and over a hundred yamen runners and militia combined. The three shifts of yamen runners were responsible for standing in court, apprehending, summoning, urging, collecting grain, and escorting.
The so-called militia were also strong young laborers drawn from various villages. They farmed at home on weekdays, and when the county yamen needed people, they were gathered to serve as yamen runners.
"Third Young Master, I'll go ask County Lieutenant Hou and County Assistant Wang." Captain Cao was also tempted, but he knew that he and the Third Young Master were both brainless. Swapping horses was one thing, but highway robbery was another. This still required County Lieutenant Hou and County Assistant Wang to make the decision.
Zhao San's throat also hurt after saying all that. He waved his hand, letting Captain Cao go find County Lieutenant Hou and County Assistant Wang.
...
Kou Family Village was a large village, and one-third of the villagers were surnamed Kou. During this period, the most talked about in the village was Kou Yuanxing, who had tragically died in the prefectural prison. However, since Kou was a common surname, the outsiders in the village dared not speak openly.
"I thought the Kou family was going to have a scholar, but I didn't expect Yuanxing to leave like this. He was just a child." Under the shade of a tree, an auntie who was sewing shoe soles couldn't help but sigh.
The woman sitting beside her glanced around and then said in a low voice, "If you ask me, Yuanxing was forced to death by his mother. The family had over twenty mu of good land, but Yuanxing was as thin as a rake. Old Er Cao from the end of the village was so poor he could barely get by, but his three children had more flesh on them than Yuanxing."
"She forced Yuanxing to study day and night, waking up earlier than the chickens and sleeping later than the dogs. My Xiao Hao said Yuanxing often studied all night. A thirteen-year-old child, his body hasn't even grown strong yet. You know, there are so many scholars in the private school, who is as thin as Yuanxing?"
Thinking of Kou Yuanxing's emaciated body and his sinister gaze, the four or five women under the shade of the tree all shook their heads.
"Xiao Hao said that last year, Yuanxing didn't get an A grade in the monthly exam because he was sick, and his mother beat his left hand until it was swollen. In the cold weather, that hand was so swollen. It was only when my Xiao Hao secretly told Teacher Xiao that Teacher Xiao took Yuanxing to the doctor. Otherwise, that hand would have been crippled."
They say fathers are strict and mothers are kind. Kou Yuanxing lost his father at a young age. Even if Kou's mother was a bit strict, especially with his studies, the villagers wouldn't say much. But Kou's mother's strictness had reached a frenzied level, wishing she could make Kou Yuanxing study for all twelve hours of the day.
When other children had a break from private school, Kou Yuanxing still had to study. Even during the New Year, Kou Yuanxing would visit relatives and pay New Year's greetings, but he couldn't go to the county town to visit the temple fair.
Since he started his education, the villagers had never seen Kou Yuanxing come out to play. A fine young man was confined by his mother to nothing but studying.
The village road was not wide, and the carriage could not enter. Zhan Feiyu got off the carriage and walked for a while. The women were speaking indignantly, and their voices were a bit loud. Zhan Feiyu heard it all.
"No wonder he cared about Wang Linlang," Zhan Feiyu began to understand. Wang Linlang's appearance was probably the only joy and light in Kou Yuanxing's monotonous study life.
And because Wang Linlang came from the Wang family in the county town, Kou's mother forbade the village children, including the younger members of the Kou family, from playing with Kou Yuanxing, unwilling to let these children disturb Kou Yuanxing's studies. However, the Wang family was wealthy, so Kou's mother naturally dared not make things difficult for Wang Linlang.
"Let's go," Yin Wuyan patted Zhan Feiyu's shoulder.
Having served in the Imperial Guards for many years, Yin Wuyan had seen more vicious and selfish mothers. The people in the old Zhan family residence were no less, but the young lady had a resilient personality and was not as obedient to her mother as Kou Yuanxing. In the end, it was Kou Yuanxing's own fault.
Hearing the footsteps behind them, the talking women looked over in surprise. Yin Wuyan still had his disguised ordinary appearance, but Zhan Feiyu was clearly different from the village girls. Her face was fair and round, her eyes were dark and moist, and her double buns were secured with pearl cicada-patterned hairpins, exuding an elegant refinement.
Especially her scholarly aura, which was indescribably gentle and beautiful, made the women secretly startled. This must be a young lady from a prominent family.
"Greetings, aunts. I am Kou Yuanxing's classmate..." Zhan Feiyu greeted them and explained her purpose.
Upon hearing that they were here to pay respects to Kou Yuanxing, the kind aunts quickly pointed the way for the two. The Kou family's ancestral graves were on the eastern mountain at the end of the road. "When you get up the mountain, walk towards the east. There are two cypress trees at the intersection, and the newly built grave is there."
"Thank you, aunts," Zhan Feiyu said gratefully, and then, with Yin Wuyan carrying the basket, they continued along the dirt road towards the east mountain.
After watching their figures disappear, the aunt who pointed the way said in a low voice, "What a thoughtful girl. I see there are three kinds of sacrificial animals in the basket."
If it was a family sacrifice, the three kinds of sacrificial animals would be cattle, sheep, and pigs. For ordinary people's sacrifices, families that paid attention to etiquette would use pigs, fish, and chickens as the three kinds of sacrificial animals.
"Look at the hairpin on the little girl's head, the pearls are so big and round." The woman who replied thought of her own daughter, who was already of marriageable age, but didn't even have a decent piece of jewelry.
"Why didn't that little girl go to the Kou family?" the oldest aunt muttered doubtfully. Logically, to pay respects to Kou Yuanxing, they should have gone to the Kou family first and had them lead the way to the grave mountain.
Thinking of the greed of the Kou clan members and Kou's mother's sharp and strong-willed meanness, the women exchanged glances, and they all understood. They probably didn't want to deal with the Kou family, which was why they went to pay respects alone.
Kou Yuanxing's tomb was in the far right corner of the Kou family's burial ground. The newly raised grave was very simple, even the tombstone was replaced by a bluestone slab pried from the mountain. There were no offerings in front of the tomb. If one didn't know, they would think this simple small grave mound buried an orphan.
"This can be considered as 'when the person is gone, the warmth fades'," Zhan Feiyu said with a mocking smile, placing the offerings one by one in front of the tomb.
Kou Yuanxing, who died young, had no value to the Kou clan even with his talent for reading. A simple coffin and this grave were the greatest gifts the Kou clan gave to Kou Yuanxing.
"He suffered when he was alive, and he is at peace in death," Yin Wuyan had never met Kou Yuanxing, but with such a selfish, self-serving, and harsh mother, Kou Yuanxing's studies were only for his mother's future glory. He himself lived like a walking corpse.
Pieces of paper money were lit, emitting a faint blue smoke. Zhan Feiyu looked at the cold tombstone, only hoping that Kou Yuanxing could live a life of freedom and unrestraint in his next life.
...
On the other side, the Kou family.
Kou's mother sat in the main hall with a gloomy expression, sewing clothes with her needle intermittently. The room was dimly lit, making her mean and gaunt face even more sinister and sharp.
After Kou's father died, he left behind twenty-three mu of good land. But now that Kou Yuanxing was also dead, in order to have a place to stay, Kou's mother had to hand over thirteen mu of good land to the clan.
As for the remaining ten mu, Kou's mother rented them all out. The rent was enough for her food and daily expenses.
In order to have someone to care for her in her old age, Kou's mother adopted a child from the Kou family. He was one year younger than Kou Yuanxing, now twelve years old. When he was five, his parents' boat encountered a storm and they were buried in the river. Fortunately, his grandparents raised him, and his uncles and aunts took care of him as he grew up.
Now that he was adopted by Kou's mother, the betrothal gifts for his future marriage would naturally come from Kou's mother. After Kou's mother's death, five mu of the ten mu of land would be returned to the clan, and the remaining five mu would go to her adopted son.
Although her life had stabilized, Kou's mother's resentment grew with every thought. Her face was ferocious and distorted. "That useless thing actually died like that! Wasted so much silver on studying!"
Studying cost money. Tuition alone was twenty taels of silver a year, not to mention the expenses for pens, ink, paper, and inkstones. Moreover, as a scholar, Kou Yuanxing's clothes couldn't be too shabby, and he had to eat lunch at the private school. In a year, thirty to forty taels of silver were not enough.
The rent from over twenty mu of good land was all spent on Kou Yuanxing's studies, and Kou's mother hadn't saved a penny. Now that the person was dead, Kou's mother felt like she had drawn water with a bamboo basket, and it was all in vain. She wished she could get back all the silver she had spent over the years.
"Auntie, my father asked me to tell you that a young girl went to the East Mountain to pay respects to my cousin." The young girl who came in from the courtyard gate was fifteen or sixteen years old. She stood at the entrance of the main hall and relayed the message. "My father asked if my cousin knew her from school. Since she's come to Kou Family Village, we can't be impolite. My father asked Auntie to go to the East Mountain to take a look."
A young girl? Kou's mother was stunned. The needle pricked her finger, and she hissed in pain. She couldn't help but resent Kou Yuanxing for not letting her rest even in death!